Marcus Velleius Paterculus
Encyclopedia
Marcus Velleius Paterculus (c. 19 BC – c. 31 AD) was a Roman
historian
, also known simply as Velleius. Although his praenomen
is given as Marcus by Priscian
, some modern scholars identify him with Gaius Velleius Paterculus, whose name occurs in an inscription on a north African milestone (C.I.L.
VIII.10, 311).
n family, and entered the army
at an early age. He served as military tribune in Thrace
, Macedon
ia, Greece
and the East, and in AD 2
was present at the interview on the Euphrates
between Gaius Caesar
, grandson of Augustus, and the Parthia
n king Phraataces. Afterwards, as praefect of cavalry
and legatus, he served for eight years (from AD 4
) in Germany
and Pannonia
under Tiberius
. For his services he was rewarded with the quaestorship in AD 8
, and, together with his brother, with the praetorship in AD 15
. He was still alive in AD 30
, for his history contains many references to the consul
ship of M. Vinicius in that year. It has been conjectured that he was put to death in AD 31
as a friend of Sejanus
, whom he praises.
His Compendium of Roman History consists of two books dedicated to M. Vinicius, and covers the period from the dispersion of the Greeks
after the siege of Troy
down to the death of Livia
(AD 29
). The first book brings the history down to the destruction of Carthage
, 146 BC; portions of it are missing, including the beginning. The later history, especially the period from the death of Caesar
, 44 BC, to the death of Augustus
, AD 14
, is treated in much greater detail. Brief notices are given of Greek and Roman
literature
, but no mention is made of Plautus
, Horace
or Propertius. The author does not display real historical insight, although generally trustworthy in his statements of individual facts. He may be regarded as a courtly annalist rather than an historian. His chronology is inconsistent. On Caesar, Augustus and above all on his patron Tiberius, he lavishes praise or flattery. The repetitions, redundancies, and slovenliness of expression may be partly due to the haste with which (as the author frequently states) it was written. The inflated rhetoric
, the straining after effect by means of hyperbole
, antithesis
and epigram
, belong firmly to the Silver Age, of which Paterculus is the earliest example. He purposed to write a fuller history of the later period, including the civil war
between Caesar and Pompey
and the wars of Tiberius; but there is no evidence that he did so. His chief authorities were Cato
's Origines, the Annales of Q Hortensius
, Pompeius Trogus
, Cornelius Nepos
and Livy
.
Velleius Paterculus was little known in antiquity. He seems to have been read by Lucan and imitated by Sulpicius Severus
, but he is mentioned only by the scholiast on Lucan, and once by Priscian.
in 1515 in Murbach Abbey
in Alsace
and now lost), is very corrupt.
On the sources see
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, also known simply as Velleius. Although his praenomen
Praenomen
The praenomen was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the dies lustricus , the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the birth of a boy...
is given as Marcus by Priscian
Priscian
Priscianus Caesariensis , commonly known as Priscian, was a Latin grammarian. He wrote the Institutiones grammaticae on the subject...
, some modern scholars identify him with Gaius Velleius Paterculus, whose name occurs in an inscription on a north African milestone (C.I.L.
Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum
The Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw light on all aspects of Roman life and history...
VIII.10, 311).
Biography
Paterculus belonged to a distinguished CampaniaCampania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
n family, and entered the army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
at an early age. He served as military tribune in Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
, Macedon
Macedon
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....
ia, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and the East, and in AD 2
2
Year 2 was a common year starting on Sunday or Monday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Sunday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
was present at the interview on the Euphrates
Euphrates
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
between Gaius Caesar
Gaius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar , most commonly known as Gaius Caesar or Caius Caesar, was the oldest son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder...
, grandson of Augustus, and the Parthia
Parthia
Parthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasty, rulers of the Parthian Empire....
n king Phraataces. Afterwards, as praefect of cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
and legatus, he served for eight years (from AD 4
4
Year 4 was a common year starting on Wednesday or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar and a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
) in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Pannonia
Pannonia
Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
under Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
. For his services he was rewarded with the quaestorship in AD 8
8
Year 8 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Camillus and Quinctilianus...
, and, together with his brother, with the praetorship in AD 15
15
Year 15 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caesar and Flaccus...
. He was still alive in AD 30
30
Year 30 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Vinicius and Longinus...
, for his history contains many references to the consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
ship of M. Vinicius in that year. It has been conjectured that he was put to death in AD 31
31
Year 31 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Seianus...
as a friend of Sejanus
Sejanus
Lucius Aelius Seianus , commonly known as Sejanus, was an ambitious soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius...
, whom he praises.
His Compendium of Roman History consists of two books dedicated to M. Vinicius, and covers the period from the dispersion of the Greeks
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
after the siege of Troy
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
down to the death of Livia
Livia
Livia Drusilla, , after her formal adoption into the Julian family in AD 14 also known as Julia Augusta, was a Roman empress as the third wife of the Emperor Augustus and his adviser...
(AD 29
29
Year 29 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Geminus and Geminus...
). The first book brings the history down to the destruction of Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
, 146 BC; portions of it are missing, including the beginning. The later history, especially the period from the death of Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
, 44 BC, to the death of Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
, AD 14
14
Year 14 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Pompeius and Appuleius...
, is treated in much greater detail. Brief notices are given of Greek and Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, but no mention is made of Plautus
Plautus
Titus Maccius Plautus , commonly known as "Plautus", was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus...
, Horace
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
or Propertius. The author does not display real historical insight, although generally trustworthy in his statements of individual facts. He may be regarded as a courtly annalist rather than an historian. His chronology is inconsistent. On Caesar, Augustus and above all on his patron Tiberius, he lavishes praise or flattery. The repetitions, redundancies, and slovenliness of expression may be partly due to the haste with which (as the author frequently states) it was written. The inflated rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
, the straining after effect by means of hyperbole
Hyperbole
Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is not meant to be taken literally....
, antithesis
Antithesis
Antithesis is a counter-proposition and denotes a direct contrast to the original proposition...
and epigram
Epigram
An epigram is a brief, interesting, usually memorable and sometimes surprising statement. Derived from the epigramma "inscription" from ἐπιγράφειν epigraphein "to write on inscribe", this literary device has been employed for over two millennia....
, belong firmly to the Silver Age, of which Paterculus is the earliest example. He purposed to write a fuller history of the later period, including the civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
between Caesar and Pompey
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
and the wars of Tiberius; but there is no evidence that he did so. His chief authorities were Cato
Cato the Elder
Marcus Porcius Cato was a Roman statesman, commonly referred to as Censorius , Sapiens , Priscus , or Major, Cato the Elder, or Cato the Censor, to distinguish him from his great-grandson, Cato the Younger.He came of an ancient Plebeian family who all were noted for some...
's Origines, the Annales of Q Hortensius
Quintus Hortensius
Quintus Hortensius Hortalus was a Roman orator and advocate.At the age of nineteen he made his first speech at the bar, and shortly afterwards successfully defended Nicomedes IV of Bithynia, one of Rome's dependants in the East, who had been deprived of his throne by his brother. From that time...
, Pompeius Trogus
Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus
Gnaeus Pompēius Trōgus, known as Pompeius Trogus, Pompey Trogue, or Trogue Pompey, was a 1st century BC Roman historian of the Celtic tribe of the Vocontii in Gallia Narbonensis, flourished during the age of Augustus, nearly contemporary with Livy.His grandfather served in the war against Sertorius...
, Cornelius Nepos
Cornelius Nepos
Cornelius Nepos was a Roman biographer. He was born at Hostilia, a village in Cisalpine Gaul not far from Verona. His Gallic origin is attested by Ausonius, and Pliny the Elder calls him Padi accola...
and Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
.
Velleius Paterculus was little known in antiquity. He seems to have been read by Lucan and imitated by Sulpicius Severus
Sulpicius Severus
Sulpicius Severus was a Christian writer and native of Aquitania. He is known for his chronicle of sacred history, as well as his biography of Saint Martin of Tours.-Life:...
, but he is mentioned only by the scholiast on Lucan, and once by Priscian.
Texts
The text of the work, preserved in a single badly written and mutilated manuscript (discovered by Beatus RhenanusBeatus Rhenanus
Beatus Rhenanus , also known as Beatus Bild, was an Alsatian humanist, religious reformer, and classical scholar....
in 1515 in Murbach Abbey
Murbach Abbey
Murbach Abbey was a famous Benedictine monastery in Murbach, southern Alsace, in a valley at the foot of the Grand Ballon in the Vosges.The monastery was founded in 727 by Eberhard, Count of Alsace, and established as a Benedictine house by Saint Pirmin. Its territory once comprised 3 towns and 30...
in Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
and now lost), is very corrupt.
- Editio princepsEditio princepsIn classical scholarship, editio princeps is a term of art. It means, roughly, the first printed edition of a work that previously had existed only in manuscripts, which could be circulated only after being copied by hand....
, 1520 - early editions by
- Justus LipsiusJustus LipsiusJustus Lipsius was a Southern-Netherlandish philologist and humanist. Lipsius wrote a series of works designed to revive ancient Stoicism in a form that would be compatible with Christianity. The most famous of these is De Constantia...
- J. GruterJan GruterJan Gruter was a Dutch critic and scholar.-Life:Jan Gruter was Dutch on his father's side and English on his mother's, and was born at Antwerp...
- Nikolaes Heinsius the ElderNikolaes Heinsius the ElderNikolaes Heinsius the Elder , Dutch classical scholar and poet, son of Daniel Heinsius, was born at Leiden.His boyish Latin poem Breda expugnata was printed in 1637, and attracted much attention. In 1642 he began his wanderings with a visit to England in search of manuscripts of the classics; but...
- Pieter Burman the Elder
- Justus Lipsius
- modern editions
- RuhnkenDavid RuhnkenDavid Ruhnken was a Dutch classical scholar of German origin.-Origins:Ruhnken was born in Bedlin near Stolp, Pomerania Province,...
and Frotscher (1830–39) - J. C. OrelliJohann Caspar von OrelliJohann Caspar von Orelli , was a Swiss classical scholar.He was born at Zürich of a distinguished Italian family which had taken refuge in Switzerland at the time of the Protestant Reformation...
(1835) - F Kritz (1840
- ed. mm. 1848)
- Friedrich Gottlob HaaseFriedrich Gottlob HaaseFriedrich Gottlob Haase was a German classical scholar. He was born at Magdeburg.Haase studied at the Universities of Halle, Greifswald, and Berlin...
(1858) - Karl Felix HalmKarl Felix HalmKarl Felix Halm , was a German classical scholar and critic.-Life:He was born at Munich. In 1849, having held appointments at Speyer and Hadamar, he became rector of the newly founded Maximiliansgymnasium at Munich, and in 1856 director of the royal library and professor in the University of Munich...
(1876) - R. EllisRobinson EllisRobinson Ellis was an English classical scholar.He was born at Barming, near Maidstone, and was educated at Elizabeth College, Guernsey, Rugby School, and Balliol College, Oxford. In 1858 he became fellow of Trinity College, Oxford, and in 1870 professor of Latin at University College, London...
(1898) (reviewed by William Warde FowlerWilliam Warde FowlerWilliam Warde Fowler was an English historian and ornithologist, and tutor at Lincoln College, Oxford. He was best known for his works on ancient Roman religion....
in Classical Review, May 1899)
- Ruhnken
On the sources see
- F. Burmeister, "De Fontibus Vellei Paterculi," in Berliner Studien für classische Philologie (1894), xv. English translation by J. S. Watson in Bohn's Classical Library.
Newer edition
- Velleius Paterculus, Historiarum Libri Duo, ed. William S. Watt, 2nd ed.; Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum TeubnerianaBibliotheca TeubnerianaThe Bibliotheca Teubneriana, or Teubner editions of Greek and Latin texts, comprise the most thorough modern collection ever published of ancient Greco-Roman literature...
(Stuttgart: Saur, 1978; ISBN 3-598-71873-X).
Commentary
- A. J. Woodman, Velleius Paterculus: The Caesarian and Augustan Narrative (2.41-93); Cambridge Classical texts and commentaries 25 (Cambridge University Press, 1983, paperback 2004; ISBN 0-521-60702-7)
- Velleius Paterculus: The Tiberian Narrative; Cambridge Classical texts and commentaries 19 (Cambridge University Press, 1977, paperback 2004; ISBN 0-521-60935-6)
Translation with Latin text
- Velleius Paterculus, Compendium of Roman History, trans. F. W. Shipley; Loeb Classical Library 152 (Harvard University Press, 1924; ISBN 0-674-99168-0)
External links
- Velleius Paterculus: History of Rome (Latin original, English translation)
- Livius.org: Marcus Velleius Paterculus